


Summer Vacation: At the Library

by IridescentPlume



Series: Summer Vacation [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Sisters, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 22:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15650016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IridescentPlume/pseuds/IridescentPlume
Summary: Summer vacation for Rebecca and Alison Crick starts out the same as every other summer. But after an unusual occurrence in the library, strange and unexplained events start to happen to the girls. What is  happening to them and why?





	Summer Vacation: At the Library

**Author's Note:**

> This is an original work I wrote over ten years ago. I was going to try to publish it but never got around to it. So I thought I would share it this way. There are five chapters that are stand alone, but related. They will be published as separate one shots.

Alison and Rebecca Crick were horrified whenever anyone mentioned similarities between them. Neither sister could bear the thought of sharing any traits with the other. They would both happily admit to being as different as night and day. While Rebecca liked things to be clean and tidy, Alison had a knack for making messes. Rebecca liked art and music, Alison liked to play sports in the mud. Rebecca like to read about great adventures, Alison would much rather go on her own adventure. Of course, it wasn’t as though Rebecca didn’t want to go on an adventure, she was just much more practical about these things. She knew from her books that no adventures awaited modern day children living in the suburbs. But no matter how many times Rebecca would try to explain these facts of life to her younger sister, Alison refused to listen. Alison knew there were adventures out there; she just needed to find one.

 

Unfortunately, life had always been lacking in adventure. The lives of the two sisters were depressingly normal and had fallen into a never changing routine. Which is why Grandma, who babysat the girls while Mom and Dad were at work, was dropping them off at the library on the first Friday of summer vacation, just as she did every Friday of summer vacation for as long as the girls could remember.

 

“I’ll pick you girls up in an hour,” Grandma said as the two sisters got out of the car.

 

“Okay, bye.” Rebecca said and the two girls went into the library.

 

Alison and Rebecca weaved through the shelves of adult books towards the stairs that led to the children’s section. They didn’t even need to pay attention to where they were going anymore. They had walked this path so many times that their feet automatically knew where to take them.

 

Rebecca went straight for the young adult section. She believed that since she was 11, and in the double digits, she was much too old for kid’s books. After all, she was practically an adult. Whenever she would go on about being practically an adult, Alison would roll her eyes and point out that anyone who still slept with a stuffed animal named Poochie could not be considered an adult.

 

Alison, on the other hand, enjoyed being a kid and always went straight past the young adult section and the young reader chapter books and right to the picture books.  She realized that at age 9 she should probably start reading chapter books but she liked picture books better. Reading too many words in a row made her go all cross-eyed. Besides, she found reading extremely dull and would much rather make up her own stories based on the pictures she looked at.

 

At the top of the stairs they were greeted by Mrs. Hambel, the children’s librarian. She was a kind old woman although a bit scatterbrained at times. She always looked almost exactly the same every time the sisters saw her. Everyday her frizzy grey hair was pulled in a messy bun and she wore the same long grey skirt with hiking boots on her feet. The only difference in her wardrobe was the color jacket she wore and reading glasses that hung around her neck by a chain that matched the jacket. Alison had secretly always wanted to see the inside of Mrs. Hambel’s closet; she figured there must be a hundred different colored jackets with matching glasses.

 

“Hello dears,” Mrs. Hambel said. “Are you doing the summer reading program this year? You really should. It’s very exciting.” She handed each of the girls a pamphlet. “Make Reading Come Alive,” it pronounced in bold letters.  There was a colorful picture of elves and fairies marching out of the pages of an open book. Rebecca smiled and took the pamphlet. She always participated in the summer reading. She was going to read anyway, she may as well go through the list of suggested books and get prizes for finishing them. The pamphlet was categorized by age group. Rebecca usually read the books in a slightly older age group. It made her feel very smart and sophisticated. She headed off to find the first book on the list.

 

Alison just glanced at the pamphlet before stuffing the pamphlet in her pocket. _I have better things to do than just read all summer_ , she thought as she wandered over to the picture books.

 

Neither sister noticed the Mrs. Hambel’s lips twist in a smile as she watched the children go their separate ways.

 

Alison grabbed a few of her favorite books from the shelf in the picture book section and went over to the little table where she sat down to look through them. After what seemed like forever, she sighed and leaned against the table. She was bored. She would much rather be fooling around outside that stuck in this stuffy library with books she had read thousands of times. She poked one of the offending books. _I don’t want to read, I want to play_ , she thought. She got up to look for her sister, hoping that an hour had passed.

 

Alison found Rebecca sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a shelf. She had her elbows on her knees and was holding her head up with her hands. There was a large stack of books on the floor next to her.

 

“Rebecca, I’m bored,” Alison whined. She didn’t get a response. “Is it an hour yet?”

 

 “It’s only been ten minutes.” Rebecca replied without looking up from her reading, “Go find a book to read,” she said waving a dismissing hand.

 

“I can’t. I’ve read them all.”

 

Rebecca glared at her sister. “You have not, you liar.”

 

“Have too.”

 

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “You’ve read every book in the entire library?”

 

“All the good ones.”

 

Rebecca rolled her eyes at her sister and went back to her book. _Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away_ , Rebecca thought.

 

When Alison saw her sister was ignoring her again, she gave a huff and scanned the room, looking for something to do. She wasn’t finding anything until she spotted a plain door on the far side of the room.

 

Alison stared at it. She had never noticed it before. She poked her sister. “Hey, what’s that?”

 

Rebacca looked where she was pointing. “A door.”

 

“Duh,” Alison said, “what’s inside?”

 

“It’s none of your business. It’s employees only.”

 

“Nuh-uh,” Alison said. “There’s no sign.” She looked toward the librarian desk. It was empty. “Mrs. Hambel’s gone; let’s check it out before she gets back.” Alison grinned and started skipping towards the door. _Finally, my very own adventure!_

 

Rebecca sighed, put down her book and followed her sister at a much more dignified pace. “You are going to get in trouble.”

 

“Nuh-uh,” Alison said again as she stuck her hand on the doorknob. She looked around; nobody was in sight. With her mind made up, she twisted the handle.

 

A lion stared at her from the dark. She shrieked in surprise and stumbled back. The lion didn’t move.

 

Rebecca laughed at her, “You goof! It’s just a stuffed animal!”

 

Alison glared at her sister and then peered at the lion. She recognized it as a prop the librarian used in telling a story. She looked past it and grinned. It was a small room full of all the props the librarians used. There were costumes and puppets and stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes.

 

“Look at all this stuff! It’s so cool!” She was about to enter the closet but Rebecca grabbed her arm.

 

“You’re not allowed to go in there!” Rebecca said as she gripped Alison’s arm.

 

“Says who?”

 

“Says me! I refuse to get in trouble because of you!”

 

“Fine,” Alison said, tugging out of Rebecca’s grasp. “Stay here. I’ll have just as much fun without you!” With that being said, she flounced into the closet.

 

Rebecca stood uncertain in the doorway. It did look pretty neat. And she should make sure Alison stayed out of trouble. Rebecca looked around. Seeing nobody, she made up her mind and followed Alison. She was struck by all the wonderful things in the closet. She went to join Alison who was digging through a costume box. Neither girl noticed as the door swung shut behind them.

 

Rebecca put a crown on her head and Alison wore a pirate hat. They pretended they were in an enchanted castle. They were having so much fun that they completely lost track of time.

 

Until the lights went out.

 

The girls screamed.

 

“Where are you?” Alison’s voice quivered as she groped for her sister.

 

“Hold on,” Rebecca said. She held her hands out in front of her trying to find the door.

 

“I’m scared,” Alison said.

 

“It’s just the dark. The dark can’t hurt you,” Rebecca said, desperately trying to sound brave, even though she felt her heart was beating loud enough to hear across the room. Her hands hit the wall and she felt along it. She had no idea where she was in the small room. She couldn’t feel a door and she was fighting down a feeling of panic. Her hands brushed against some sort of switch. Hoping it was a light switch, she pushed it. Red and orange sparks shot out of the overhead light. They fell to the ground and glowed for a moment before dying. Just as the sparks faded, the overhead light sputtered and bathed the room in a dull red light. Both sisters did not move for several seconds as they waited for their heart rates to go back to normal.

 

“Let’s get out of here,” Rebecca said. “We shouldn’t have even been in here in the first place.”

 

Alison nodded, wide eyed and clutching her sister’s hand. The red light made all the toys look mean and scary. She wanted out!

 

They opened the door and stopped in shock, huddling in the doorway. They didn’t know what to stare at first. The red glow coming from the light fixtures revealed that they were not as alone in the children’s section as they had been when they entered the closet. In one corner, some sort of wild monster was rummaging through the books. It had a yellow and orange striped torso and arms with wicked looking claws on its paws. Its legs were grey and scaly and the head was covered in shaggy fur with two horns like a buffalo. Teeth protruded from its large mouth and its long fluffy tail swished back and forth. In another corner, two bear cubs played together. One wore blue pants and a red shirt while the other had on pink overalls with a pink and white polka-dotted blouse. And in yet another corner, a lady with red, frizzy hair and wearing a dress patterned with planets was discussing the solar system with a group of students.

 

“Eh-hem,” they heard a small voice squeak. They looked down. There was a grey mouse in blue overalls looking up at them. Its tail twitched. “Do you have a cookie?” it asked. The stared at the mouse, looked at each other, and at the same time popped back into the prop room, slamming the door shut.

 

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Rebecca shut her eyes, shook her head, and peeked back out. They were all still there. She turned back to her sister. Neither spoke.

 

Alison broke the silence, “what’s going on?”

 

“I have no idea.” Rebecca shook her head. “This is impossible.” She muttered. “I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming,” She looked at Alison who was staring up at her. She pointed towards the door. “Those things are straight out of the books. This has to be some weird dream.”

 

Slowly, Alison reached over and pinched her.

 

“Ow!” Rebecca shouted. “What was that for?”

 

Alison shrugged. “I guess it’s not a dream.”

 

Rebecca glared at her, and then looked back towards the door.

 

Alison thought for a minute before her eyes lit up with an idea. “Wait! I know!” She reached into her pocket and triumphantly held out a rumpled pamphlet. “Make reading come alive!” she said as she handed it to her sister.

 

Rebecca looked at it. “A piece of paper can’t make talking mice show up.”

 

“This one did.”

 

Rebecca stuck her hands on her hips. “How?”

 

“I dunno. Magic?”

 

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “There’s no such thing as magic.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Alison asked.  She gestured towards the door. “Explain that.”

 

Rebecca paused. She hated to admit it but her younger sister had a point. Alison gave her a smug look when she couldn’t answer which just made Rebecca annoyed. “Whatever. Anyways, it doesn’t matter how it happened. Either way, we can’t stay here. Come on, we should go,” Rebecca said, reaching for the doorknob.

 

“What?! I’m not going out there!” Alison exclaimed, crossing her arms. It was scary out there. That monster had sharp teeth. There was no way she was going to go where it could see her. She may have wanted an adventure but walking past monsters was a bit much. She would stay here until somebody found them. It was safe here.

 

“We can’t stay here!” Rebecca said as if reading her younger sister’s thoughts. Her voice got louder with each word. “Grandma should have picked us up by now. Besides, we’d probably be home if _you_ hadn’t insisted on seeing what was in this stupid room!”

 

“This isn’t _my_ fault! _You_ didn’t have to follow me!” Alison shouted back.

 

Rebecca took a deep breath, trying to be the rational adult with her irrational baby sister. “Look,” she said. “We have to get home and we won’t if we just stay here.” Alison looked unsure so Rebecca continued. “It’ll be an adventure. You always say how you want to go on an adventure.”

 

“I never wanted to go on a scary adventure,” Alison muttered. Rebecca folded her arms across her chest and gave her sister a look. Alison sighed. “Fine, but you first.”

 

Rebecca nodded and opened the door very slowly. No one seemed to notice them. The sisters crept past the strange array of people and creatures. Nobody really seemed to pay them any mind. There was an instance where a creature who looked like half man half goat, wearing a red scarf wandered past them and down an aisle. He glanced at them as he passed, nodded, and continued on his way.

 

Alison and Rebecca made it through the children’s section and stopped at the top of the stairs. Alison looked back at the strange room in relief.  It hadn’t been too bad but she was glad it was over. Rebecca felt the same. Now all they had to do was go down the stairs and through the main section of the library to the front doors. She was sure that the strange evening was coming to an end. Grandma would be waiting for them at the door. She might even be at the bottom of the stairs.

 

 “That wasn’t so bad,” Rebecca said.

 

“No,” Alison agreed. She thought for a moment and then shook her head. “I don’t think Grandma will believe us.”

 

“Um, no,” Rebecca said. She glanced at Alison, “maybe we should just keep this our secret.”

 

Alison giggled nervously as her eyes glanced back behind her. The two started down the stairs, their eyes darting around to make sure no more strange creatures would come out. As they got further down, they grew more relaxed. They were leaving the children section and all the things in it behind.

 

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Rebecca stopped. She suddenly got a bad feeling. The library was usually quiet but this seemed a bit too quiet. The red lighting caused odd shadows between the book shelves that made her uneasy. Alison didn’t notice and skipped ahead. “Alison, wait!” Rebecca called in sudden fear.

 

Alison turned around confused. “What? The door’s right over there.” When she turned back around to point, all that entered her vision was black cloth. She screamed and stumbled back, looking up as she did. A very tall man in black clothing stood before her. His skin was quite pale and his eyes appeared to have a red glow to them that did not come from the lighting of the room. He grabbed Alison’s shoulder as she stumbled back from him. His grip was like a vise. His nails, which looked to be filed to a point, dug painfully into her shoulder. He gave a diabolical smile, showing pointed teeth. “Vhat a charming little morsel,” He said in an odd accent. She just stared up at him, paralyzed by her fear. He bent down towards her, moving with an unnatural grace. His head was mere inches away from Alison’s.

 

“Stay away from my sister!” Rebecca shouted, chucking a book at his head. She missed. The arrow, however, which came out of nowhere, did not miss and lodged itself in his shoulder, causing him to loosen his grip on the girl. This jolted her into action. She wrenched herself away from him and ran back behind her sister.

 

Neither girl knew where the arrow had come from, nor did they care. Rebecca grabbed her sister and ran down an aisle. She glanced back in time to see another arrow shoot out from between two shelves and hit the tall dark man in the stomach. The arrow was followed by a man wielding a sword. He wore leather boots and a green tunic with a matching hat that had a feather in it. Rebecca turned away from him and they continued running down the aisles.

 

Neither girl knew how long they ran for. Finally, Alison collapsed against a book case at the end of an aisle. “Come on!” Rebecca said. “We can’t stop now!” they turned down another aisle and sprinted past a man and a woman kissing and professing their undying love for one another between kisses.

 

After turning into another aisle, Alison shook her head and dropped to the floor, panting deeply. “I can’t…run…anymore,” she said between breathes.

 

Rebecca looked up and down the aisle before sinking down next to her, breathing deeply herself. “I think…we lost him…anyway.” The two sat there for a while, trying to catch their breath.

 

“Where are we?” Alison said after a moment.

 

Rebecca shook her head. “I dunno. Somewhere in the adult section.”

 

Alison stood up and looked up and down a few of the aisles. “I don’t recognize any of this. Have you been here before?” She looked back at her sister, who was still on the floor.

 

“I don’t really come in this section at all,” Rebecca admitted.

 

The girls stared at each other. They were lost. They were lost in a building full of monsters.

 

Alison slumped back down next to Rebecca. “We’re never getting home.”

 

“Yes, we are,” Rebecca said.

 

“No,” Alison said glumly, “we’re doomed.”

 

“We are not doomed,” Rebecca replied. She tried to sound brave and reassuring for her sister but it was hard when the same thoughts were going through her own head.

 

“No, we’re going to be stuck here forever and that thing is going to come back and he’s going to eat us and I’m scared and I’m tired and…”

 

“Stop it!” Rebecca cried out. “Just…stop, okay! I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m tired of trying to be brave for you! Okay?” She shouted, tears running down her cheeks. Alison looked stricken. Rebecca felt bad but she was tired of playing the adult. She knew she had to be strong for her sister. It was her job as the older sister. But the truth was that she was still just a kid. After all that talk about being nearly an adult, she didn’t think she was ready. She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms.

 

Alison stared at her sister. Her own tears were running freely. Miserably, she copied Rebecca’s motion. They really were doomed.

 

A cough startled them out of their gloom. They looked up in surprise to see a tall muscular man standing there. He was quite handsome, even in the red lighting, with black hair and regal features. He was wearing some sort of strange ancient armor over a short white tunic trimmed in purple, odd leather sandals were tied up his legs, and he had a short sword fastened to the belt around his waist. They gasped and tried to back further against the book case. The man smiled. “You have no need to fear me,” He said.

 

“How do we know that?” Rebecca asked, once more falling into the role of protective older sister.

 

He chuckled. “I swear to you, I mean you no harm. My name is Odysseus.” He looked at their tear stained cheeks. “Why are you crying?” He asked.

 

Alison sniffed. “We’re lost.”

 

He smiled. “I know the feeling,” he replied, kneeling down to their level. “I’m a bit lost myself.”

 

“You are?” Alison asked.

 

“Yes. I have been lost for quite some time now.”

 

“How long?” Rebecca asked.

 

“I cannot be entirely sure. The years have begun to run together.” The girls looked at him astonished.

 

“You’ve been lost for years?” Alison asked, wide eyed. At his nod she gasped and turned to Rebecca. “What if _we’re_ lost for years?”

 

“Do not worry, little one. You will surely have better luck than I,” He told them. “But mayhap my luck will change. I will not stop until I am home,” he finished with optimistic confidence. 

 

“I’d’ve given up by now,” Rebecca said.

 

“I have been tempted,” he admitted, “but then I think of my wife and my son, and I press on, past any obstacles the gods throw at me.”

 

Rebecca thought this was a bit over dramatic but chose not to comment.

 

“How do you know which way to go?” Alison asked.

 

“I let the stars guide me. And my heart.”

 

“But what if your heart’s lost too?” Alison asked.

 

He chuckled, “If this is the case, you must ask for guidance. Where are you trying to get to? Perhaps I can be of assistance.”

 

“We want to get to the main entrance,” Rebecca said.

 

He nodded. “I believe I know where that is. Follow me,” he said. He led them down several aisles before stopping. “You must follow this path,” he said pointing between two aisles. “It will lead you to where you are seeking.”

 

“You’re not coming with us?” Alison asked.

 

“I am afraid I can go no further. I have my own home to find. I wish you luck. May Athena smile upon your voyage.”

 

“Uh, sure. You too.” Rebecca thought this farewell was odd, but he did help them, so she wasn’t going to say anything.

 

The two sisters continued down between the dim aisles he pointed to. As they reached the end, they began to recognize their surroundings. They were close to the main lobby! The entrance was just up ahead!

 

“Come on!” Rebecca yelled in excitement. The both started running towards the end of the aisle. They turned the corner.

 

And froze.

 

Dozing in front of the doors was an enormous dragon. It was red and gold, with enormous wings, reaching up towards the ceiling. It breathed loudly, the sound echoing in the room. The girls were surprised they hadn’t heard it before. As it breathed, smoke curled gently up from its nose and mouth. Its skin looked very tough and bits of jewels were imbedded between some of its scales as though they had been laid on for a long time and became stuck. It seemed very demonic in the dim red light.

 

“Now what’re we gonna do?” Alison cried.

 

“Shh!” Rebecca clamped her hand over Alison’s mouth and dragged her back between two aisles, out of sight of the dragon.

 

Rebecca peeked around the corner. The dragon was still sleeping. It apparently did not hear Alison’s outburst. Good. She pulled her head back behind the shelves and thought. Alison watched her intently.

 

There was an emergency exit somewhere, Rebecca knew, but she had no idea where and was not about to go back into the heart of the library. Not when the doors were so close. _We could try and sneak past it_ , she thought, _but what if it wakes up? It’d swallow us in one bite._ She thought some more. Maybe a distraction would work. It always seemed to work in the books she read. She could make some sort of distraction, throw a book or something over on the other side of the library and when the dragon went to investigate, they could run as fast as they could towards the exit. That might work. She grabbed the closest book, _The Hobbit,_ and threw with all her might to the other side of the library.

 

It landed with a thump.

 

The dragon didn’t move.

 

She tried again with the same results. Alison must have caught on to what she was doing because she started chucking books across the room too.

 

They threw book after book. _Romeo and Juliet_ did not wake up the dragon. Neither did _Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind,_ or _Little Women_. Eventually they realized all they were doing was making a mess. The dragon was obviously fast asleep.

 

“Now what?” Alison asked after they stopped.

 

“We’re going to have to sneak past it.”

 

Alison bit her lip and nodded. Together they slowly made their way up to the dragon. The entire floor seemed to vibrate from the dragon’s loud snores. The girls spotted a small space between its body and the wall. They were about to squeeze past it when its tail twitched catching Rebecca in the stomach and throwing her across the room. She screeched in surprise and hit the far wall with an “Oomf!”

 

“Rebecca!” Alison yelled and ran towards her sister. She grabbed Rebecca’s hand to help her up. “Are you okay?”

 

“I think so,” she said, rubbing her stomach. She froze. “Why is it so quiet?” She asked with dread.

 

A shadow loomed above them. They looked up, and up, and up. The dragon towered above them. It let out a roar. They screamed and ran towards the door. It jumped up and landed heavily between them and the door. The girls screamed again and dove behind the front desk to hide under it. Both of them tightly screwing their eyes shut and threw their arms over their heads, like when they practiced tornado drills at school. The dragon roared above them. They could hear it getting closer and closer. Any minute it would rip up the desk and they would be exposed and helpless.

 

“What do we do? What do we do?” Alison asked very fast, beginning to panic.

 

Rebecca wasn’t given time to answer. The desk was ripped away and crashed into the back wall with a BAM!

 

“RUN!” Rebecca yelled. Alison ran. She spotted the door. It was unblocked. She sobbed in relief and turned to show Rebecca. But she was not behind her. She had run the opposite direction of Alison. Alison froze. She didn’t know what to do. Rebecca came up with the plans not her. She frantically looked for something to help Rebecca. Anything! She spotted the light switch next to the door. _If I turn off the lights, the dragon won’t see Rebecca anymore!_ She thought. She ran to the light switch, squeezed her eyes shut, and hit the switch as hard as she could.

 

All noise stopped.

 

Alison slowly opened her eyes. And blinked at the bright light. It was a cheerful, normal, white light. The red light was gone. Rebecca peeked out from behind a bookshelf and the girls walked towards each other to the center of the room, looking around them for the dragon. It was gone and the creepy atmosphere had also vanished. It was once again a normal library, nothing unusual or sinister about it. There were books scattered across the floor, bookshelves that were toppled over, and the desk was thrown against the wall.

 

They heard footsteps coming from behind the “Employees Only” door. They turned towards it, ready for anything.

 

The girls did not expect Mrs. Hambel, the librarian to enter. “There you are!” she said, spotting them. “Your grandmother is waiting outside for you. She’s absolutely frantic with worry. She says she fell asleep and forgot all about you. I told her I didn’t think that there was anyone in the library when I left but that I’d take a look. And here you are.”

 

They nearly collapsed in relief. Grandma was here! They were safe!

 

The librarian looked around the library. “My goodness!” she exclaimed, there was a twinkle in her eye. “What on Earth happened here?”

 

The sisters glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. “Uh, we, uh,” Rebecca stammered out. She caught sight of a banner about the summer reading program on the far wall. “We, uh, made reading come alive?” Rebecca said. Alison nodded and fingered the crumpled pamphlet in her pocket. She decided to skip the summer reading program. She had just about enough experience making reading come alive to last the rest of the summer.


End file.
